In the third episode of Building Successful Coaching Cultures, host Rosie Nice, speaks with Felix Karl Gaehwiler, an adaptable and pragmatic leader driving Business Transformation for DMC Europe at Kuoni Tumlare. Felix shares a candid look at life inside a blame-driven sales culture—where responsibility was always pushed outward, energy was low, and while people were functioning, they weren't thriving. The team was stuck, unhappy, and disconnected.

Change began when a new Head of Sales, Tim, introduced a coaching-led approach. Rather than giving solutions, Tim first listened—to frustrations, complaints, and concerns—and then asked different questions that challenged individuals and teams to take ownership: "What ideas do you have to solve that?" Felix recalls how challenging this felt at first and how it took him on his own journey, confronting his resistance until he could see the approach working and eventually train as a coach himself.

The conversation explores how coaching shifted accountability, relationships, and performance over time, while also highlighting the ongoing effort required to sustain a coaching mindset amid leadership changes, cross-cultural teams, and hybrid working. This episode is a grounded, human exploration of what coaching really looks like inside organisations—messy, challenging, and ultimately transformative.

You will learn:

· Blame cultures can appear functional while masking stagnation, disengagement, and low accountability.

· Listening and curiosity are a key part of building a coaching culture

· The powerful shifts that occur over time when a coaching culture is built into organizations

'I think a coaching culture exists when people feel safe to develop new ideas, but even more, when they feel safe to give and accept feedback, irrespective of position or title.'

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For the episode resources and guest bio, please visit:

https://www.associationforcoaching.com/page/dl-hub_podcast-channel-building-coaching-cultures-blame-culture-coaching-organizations

**Join us for the AC 2026 Global Conference: 𝘊𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 - a two-day virtual event for leaders and coaches who want to build thriving, high-performing organizations.

The second episode of Building Successful Coaching Cultures explores what it really takes to embed a coaching culture inside a high-performance sales environment. Host Rosie Nice is joined by Jo Richards, Head of Education at L'Oréal Dermatological Beauty, who shares her first-hand experience of shifting sales leadership from a traditional, directive management style to a sustainable coaching-led approach. Together, they unpack the realities of introducing coaching within fast-paced, target-driven teams—without compromising commercial results.

Jo discussed the cultural and practical challenges faced when embedding coaching at scale, from gaining senior stakeholder buy-in to supporting middle managers as they develop new coaching capabilities. She explains how a clear vision and the MAGIC coaching model helped them weave coaching conversations into everyday sales practice, performance management, and team leadership. The conversation highlights how engaging every level of the organisation is critical to building trust, accountability, and long-term career development.

This episode is packed with practical insights for leaders, coaches, and organisations looking to build a strong coaching culture that drives both people development and business performance. Jo shares actionable advice on training managers, sustaining momentum through ongoing learning, and balancing coaching with ambitious sales targets—demonstrating how coaching can enhance team dynamics, strengthen relationships, and support consistent high performance over time.

You will learn:

· How to successfully transition from directive management to a coaching-based leadership approach in high-performance sales teams

· The business and people benefit of introducing a coaching culture in the workplace

· Practical ways to integrate coaching into everyday leadership and performance conversations

"The goal is still the same. You need to hit your sales targets—nothing changes, just your approach."

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For the episode resources and guest bio, please visit:

https://www.associationforcoaching.com/page/dl-hub_podcast-channel-building-coaching-cultures-high-performance-sales-teams

**Join us for the AC 2026 Global Conference: 𝘊𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 - a two-day virtual event for leaders and coaches who want to build thriving, high-performing organizations.

In the first episode of Building Successful Coaching Cultures series, host Rosie Nice speaks with Anna Skeats, CEO of the Rainy Day Trust and former CEO of The Mason Foundation. From her early career supporting vulnerable communities to building a national charity from scratch, Anna's leadership has always centred on empowerment over direction.

Anna challenges the myth that coaching cultures tolerate underperformance, sharing how coaching approaches actually create high-performing, effective and motivated teams by encouraging the skills and strengths already within individuals and teams. Drawing on her experience at the Mason Foundation, she explores how trust, psychological safety, and clear expectations work together to drive inclusion, accountability, and impact.

Throughout the conversation, Anna reflects on the realities of embedding a coaching culture in practice, the importance of listening and responding to real needs, and the incredible results she's experienced. Her insights offer practical guidance for leaders seeking to create sustainable organisations without losing focus on performance, accountability, or impact.

You will learn:

· How coaching cultures enhance performance and empower teams

· How psychological safety and trust unlocks capability

· Leadership starts with listening – Responding to real needs, rather than assumptions

"I found that the way to empower people to make change was to listen, learn, and respond, not just tell individuals what to do."

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For the episode resources and guest bio, please visit:

https://www.associationforcoaching.com/page/dl-hub_podcast-channel-building-coaching-cultures-empowerment-leadership-trust

In this episode of our A Day in the Life series, host Maxine Bell interviews new coaches and life partners Amanda Pennington and Chris Bibbo. They share their journeys into coaching after long careers in the nonprofit sector and reflect on how coaching supported them through major life transitions, including a bold move from the USA to Portugal. The conversation offers an honest, inspiring look at how coaching helped them navigate uncertainty, personal change, and professional reinvention.

Amanda and Chris also speak candidly about the realities of building a coaching practice, from attracting clients to hosting their first live offering, the Life Blueprint Workshop, where they found immense joy witnessing their clients' breakthroughs. They explore the emotional heart of coaching, emphasizing self-awareness, courage and compassion to help clients find purpose and meaning in their lives. Their story highlights how coaching is not only a professional path but a powerful tool for resilience, growth, and meaningful connection — for both clients and coaches.

Amanda and Chris's warmth and passion for coaching will encourage new coaches, enthuse experienced coaches and ignite those of you looking for authentic, meaningful coaching.

You will learn:

· Coaching is an impactful, supportive tool for courage and resilience in life transitions.

· Building a coaching business requires persistence, experimentation, and a willingness to learn through doing.

· How coaching assists, us to listen to our courageous hearts, and not just our 'monkey minds.'

'Seeing a client's life open up brings me so much life. It's an honour and a privilege to be part of that.'

Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave us a review! Your feedback helps us bring you more valuable content.

For the episode resources and guest bio, please visit:

https://www.associationforcoaching.com/page/dl-hub_podcast-channel_day-in-the-life-of-coaches-new-coaches-transitions-growth

Join host Rob Lawrence, for a special, inspiring episode where we bring back all six hosts from our 2025 podcast series to share their incredible journeys. This heartfelt conversation dives into their experiences, insights, professional and personal growth, as well as the ripple effects of stepping outside their comfort zones to share their passions.

Our 2025 episodes covered diverse yet deeply connected and important topics, including:

· Self-Awareness: Insightful Tools for Growth: Explore a range of self-awareness tools for growth.

· Coaching for Good: Innovative coaching that transforms lives by working for social good.

· Coach as a Leader: How coaches inspire and equip leaders to apply coaching mindsets and skills.

· Supervision Uncovered: Explores the impact of supervision on coach development, skills and wellbeing.

· Neurodiversity in the Workplace: Hear real stories, insights, and strategies to build truly inclusive work environments that benefit everyone.

· Love in Coaching: The impact of consciously bringing love into your coaching practice.

This conversation warmly celebrates collaboration, diversity, innovation, and the power of sharing stories to inspire positive change and development within coaching and the wider individuals and systems it impacts. Listen to reflect, be encouraged and maybe inspired to reach out to us with your own podcast series idea and contribute to future conversations: enquiries@associationforcoaching.com

"Just do it. The excitement might feel like fear, but hosting has been such a thrill and a joy for me".

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For the episode resources and guest bio, please visit:

https://www.associationforcoaching.com/page/dl-hub_podcast-channel_insights-reflections-hosts-2025

In this solo closing episode of the Love in Coaching series, Helena Clayton weaves together the key themes from previous conversations, reflecting on how coaching is evolving beyond performance-driven outcomes towards deeper, more human-centred practice. She explores the importance of coaches doing their own inner work — developing self-awareness and understanding how personal histories and relationships with love shape the way we coach.

Helena considers the ethical and relational implications of bringing love into coaching, including flexible contracting, empathy, and the courage required to work more boldly in organisational contexts. She also reflects on gender dynamics, particularly the role of men supporting men in this work and invites coaches to consider whether explicitly naming love is necessary — or whether it can be embodied through practice. The episode widens the lens to include broader social, global, and spiritual perspectives, highlighting love's connection to meaning and presence in coaching.

The episode concludes with practical reflections on how love can be embodied through care, deep listening, and acceptance, alongside book, podcast, and workshop recommendations and an invitation for listener engagement — affirming love's growing significance in coaching practice and the wider world.

You will learn

· How coaching has evolved from performance focused to deeper explorations of identity, meaning and human connection and why love is involved

· Why coach's self-awareness and inner work are essential to understanding how love shows up in practice

· Bringing love into coaching requires ethical courage, relational sensitivity and awareness of wider social and spiritual contexts

"I have a feeling that conversations about love are the most important ones to be having right now."

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For the episode resources and guest bio, please visit:

https://www.associationforcoaching.com/page/dl-hub_podcast-channel-love-in-coaching-love-matters-leadership

In this episode, our host Helena Clayton is joined by coach, supervisor and coach trainer, Ian Mitchell for a rich and thoughtful conversation about the place of love in coaching. Ian shares his journey from the financial sector into coaching and supervision, alongside insights from his research into spirituality and love in leadership. Together, they explore what it means to bring love, intimacy, and tenderness consciously into coaching relationships, and why these qualities matter in work with leaders and coaches, particularly in our troubled world where the desire for meaning and purpose, over performance is growing.

The discussion centres on the lived experience of coaching rather than technique — highlighting mutuality between coach and client, the courage required to stay present with vulnerability, and the role of porous boundaries in enabling genuine human connection. Drawing on influences such as Martin Buber, adult development theory, and therapeutic perspectives, Helena and Ian reflect on how a coach's inner world, reflexivity, and willingness to engage with shadow shape the depth and impact of coaching conversations.

You will learn:

· The role of love, intimacy, and tenderness in shaping our coaching stance

· How love is expressed through a coach's action logics and developmental capacity

· About mutuality between coach and client and establishing porous boundaries

'For me, a revolution of tenderness would be great in the work that we do.'

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For the episode resources and guest bio, please visit:

https://www.associationforcoaching.com/page/dl-hub_podcast-channel-love-in-coaching-adultdevelopment-tenderness-intimacy

In episode four of our Love in Coaching series, host Helena Clayton speaks with veteran coach and educator Aboodi Shabi about love and spirituality in coaching. They explore how the profession has evolved from a performance-driven model to one that embraces the full depth of human experience. Aboodi shares why love—expressed as compassion, presence, and genuine care—is central to transformative coaching in the current world we live in, and how spirituality can provide grounding and insight for both coach and client. He also discusses the courage required to bring these themes into organizational contexts that often focus more on productivity than humanity.

Aboodi emphasizes the importance of coaches doing their own inner work, humility and holding space for clients' full selves. Helena and Aboodi examine the importance of vulnerability, creating space for silence and stillness, and embracing diversity and inclusion in practice. They also contrast human coaching with AI-driven models, highlighting that authentic presence and heartfelt connection remain irreplaceable. This episode offers inspiration and practical insight for coaches seeking to integrate love, spirituality, and deeper human awareness into their work.

You will learn:

· Why love is foundational to modern coaching

· Why coaches' own inner work is essential to enable them to hold an authentic, healthy presence and meaningful engagement with clients

· How it is possible to bring love and spirituality into organizational contexts

'We all learn to harden our hearts to deal with the world, and it costs us connection and love.'

Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave us a review! Your feedback helps us bring you more valuable content.

For the episode resources and guest bio, please visit:

https://www.associationforcoaching.com/page/dl-hub_podcast-channel-love-in-coaching-spirituality-love-presence